RAPA is an association that is committed to improving the reinsurance industry.  With participation from our dedicated members, RAPA is working towards the following goals:

1.  RAPA Worldwide – our association has predominantly been North American, we are starting to expand our conference to Central America and Australia.  Further investigation to expanding in Europe.

2.  RAPA initiatives – RAPA sets forth initiatives to explore industry trends and issues.  The goal of the initiatives is to bring awareness and provides information or tools that will improve efficiency across the industry

3.  Networking – RAPA encourages networking with all business partners and provides the forum to do so.  A collective group of industry professionals providing expertise and knowledge.

Do you have an initiative that you think RAPA should be working on? Share it with the RAPA team by emailing Genevra Pflaum (Genevra.Pflaum@hlramerica.com).

We look forward to hearing from you!

2024 Communication Initiative Roadmap:

1. “Go-Live” of RAPA website. Supported by a clean-up of the site’s content; updates of various initiative sections with current and relative content provided by all RAPA initiatives
2. Website enhancements (Cosmetic changes for accessibility, backend website improvements, page layout changes for ease of use as needed)
3. Improving communications through social media channels (Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn). Acquisition and use of new social media sites if not currently managed or utilized
4. In concert with the Education Committee; exploring the use of plugins for provided educational content
5. Creation and trial run of RAPA newsletter for RAPA members

   Communication Initiative 2024 RAPA Virtual Spring Meeting Powerpoint

• The RAPA Spring Meeting held in Toronto
• RAPA Conference Corporate Sponsorship – If interested contact  Michelle Wisner (MWisner@SMLNY.COM).

Mission Statement

Our mission is to ensure that the highest quality of data is delivered through the coordination of our efforts for the purpose of lowering the risk of systemic issues.

What does Data Quality mean to each player? Each player in the reinsurance stream has different needs for quality data.

1. For the Ceding Company, data used by the reinsurance system is only as good as the administration system supplying the data. A “Garbage-in = Garbage-out” philosophy. Unless checks are made back to the administration systems, the data within the reinsurance system can be suspect. Assumptions are made that the source data is coming into the reinsurance system correctly. Constant monitoring of the administration systems is required to ensure all changes are accurately being transferred to the reinsurance system. Internal reporting is also impacted by the quality of the reinsurance data.
2. For the Reinsurer, data quality is multi-dimensional. One dimension is accuracy. This is not just limited to formatting accuracy but also field accuracy and is the most difficult to measure. A second dimension is completeness and is defined as having the data meet all the minimum data requirements. A third dimension is consistency with data being consistent from period to period. The fourth dimension is recency and measures the freshness of the data.
3. For the Retrocessionaire, high quality data is complete, accurate, available and timely. Complete data means no information is missing from the data file, meaning less time is taken to query for missing information. Accurate data is when all information provided is correct, with less time to review information for errors. Available data means that the information is provided and there is no need for a request. Timely data implies no significant lag between the effective date of the data and when it’s provided. High quality data enables the company to make sound business decisions.

Click on a topic below to learn more:

Best Practices: related to how to carry out a task or configure something – proven to produce positive results

Reporting Guidelines: Recommendations that help direct a course of action but can vary by Ceding Company and Reinsurer

Communication Tools

Purpose:  To develop tools and techniques to provide guidelines on reinsurance risk management methodology and approach. Particularly relating to risk assessment, and auditing and compliance reviews of the reinsurance administration function of the direct writers,   reinsurers and retrocessionaires.

This initiative is divided into two sub-teams with focus on:

• 1. Reinsurance Administration Risk Assessment
  2. Reinsurance Administration Audit and Compliance Reviews

Deliverables & Milestones

• 1. Risk Assessment; the sub-team has developed a risk assessment matrix detailing and defining strategic, operational and compliance risks. Our 2016 areas of concentration included:
     • Strategic Risk – Mergers & Acquisitions, Business disruptions, Sox Controls
     • Operational Risk – Training and development, processes and procedures, organizational structure, succession planning
     • Compliance – Non Compliance; FATCA, Anti Money Laundering, OFAC, Fraud
  2. Audit & Compliance Reviews; the sub-team has identified what criteria should be used when selecting audit candidates. Our 2016 areas of concentration included brainstorming the following approaches:
     • Kick off a high level deep dive into specific audit topics such as, conversions, retention management, joint
     • Agree to identify best practices
     • Discussed developing white paper/catalogue of auditing practices to be shared with the industry

This Risk Management initiative team has prepared the Risk Based Audit Plan Guidelines to assist member companies, of the Reinsurance Administration Professional Association (RAPA), in developing a systematic approach for conducting the annual risk based audit plan of ceding companies and reinsurers administration audits by reinsurers and retrocessionaires, respectively.

Feel free to contact Lynn Martone if you have any questions about the following document: Risk-Based-Audit-Planning-Guidelines-09-16-2015

In addition to the guidelines, the Risk Management team has produced the Risk Management Matrix: RAPA_Reinsurance Administration_Risk Management Template

As of September 2017, the Risk Management Team has produced the following Administration & Treaty Administration work aids:

RAPA_Reinsurance Administration_Risk Management Template (06-20-2017)

RAPA_Reinsurance Treaty Administration_Risk Assessment Example (Sept 2017)

Leader is Lynn Martone, Swiss Re

EDUCATION INITIATIVES

Purpose:

Develop training material in case study format to illustrate the impact of processing. The document will include real life examples with fictive names in order to keep the confidentiality of the material. Topics:

• Financial Impact to Business Rules (System)
• Leading reinsurance auditing practices Financial Impact to Conversion Process (File Mapping) assumed side to retro

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact Elena_Gilev@swissre.com

2020 TREATY CLAUSE CHECKLIST

RAPA Education Initiative is pleased to make the Treaty Clause Checklist available for your use.  The Treaty Clause Checklist is intended to be a guide to help when reviewing a client prepared treaty to ensure the appropriate articles are included in the treaty.  This is a starting point and additional articles may be added as appropriate for your company.

2020 Treaty Clause Checklist

REINSURANCE 101 PRESENTATIONS!

RAPA Education initiative is pleased to make the Reinsurance 101 presentations which were prepared by members of the industry and used in various industry meetings available for use. Both presentations have valuable information and now can be found on the RAPA website. We recommend using these presentations as a training tool. The following presentations materials was intended to give a general view of Reinsurance .

• Presentation TAI 2012 – April 24
• Reins101-no examples

Please do not hesitate to contact me dalia.khoury@optimumre.com. if you find any flawed information.

GOOD NEWS! SUPPLEMENT TO REINSURANCE BASICS IS BACK!

As many of you are aware, LOMA had discontinued the Supplement to Reinsurance Basics Program which was prepared by the RAPA Education committee due to lack of participation. We understood from RAPA members that the cost was a bit high and may have hindered enrolment for you and your teams. Since we had very positive feedback about the program from those who had taken it and it was an integral part of laying the foundation for new Reinsurance Administration Professionals, we felt strongly about ensuring that it remain a key resource. Through the diligent efforts of your RAPA Education Committee, some LOMA has agreed to re-launch the Supplement to Reinsurance Basics Program on Friday September 26, 2014 at a reduced cost of $100 (vs $149) as well as an additional on line course. Essentially, you can now obtain 4 (vs 3) for a lower price.

Please select the following link for the program: http://learning.loma.org/public/ContentDetails.aspx?id=5A684F28872B416386319AB97D666C11.

We encourage you and your colleagues to take advantage of this exciting opportunity. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact Dalia Khoury at dalia.khoury@optimumre.com.

Deliverables & Milestones

• 1. We have 2 to 4 sub-groups tackling different topics. Each sub group is working one topic to complete documentation on by June 2014. Other topics will be noted for future target dates.
  2. Any additional topics will be decided on in the later part of 2014 .

Leader is Dalia Khoury, Optimum Re

2015 Deliverable – New Business Workflow Chart

The Education Initiative team has prepared the New Business workflow chart to assist member companies of the of the Reinsurance Administration Professional Association (RAPA), in understanding in a simplified approach the complexity of the various layers and how they are all entwined.

Please see workflow diagrams: Direct Workflow, Reinsurance Workflow, Retrocession Workflow v2

PAST INITIATIVES

Reinsurance Treaty Fundamentals

The RAPA Education Committee developed a Reinsurance Treaty Fundamentals document to train new hires of direct insurers, reinsurers and retrocessionaires who are responsible for reinsurance administration. This document provides a solid knowledge of treaty basics. The document is broken down into 12 modules, covering the key treaty provisions in a reinsurance treaty. A Q & A section is provided with easy access to the answers. We invite you to use this document and we welcome your feedback. Click here to download the document.

Presentations from the Fall 2011 meeting in Nashville

• Reinsurance Coverage Types. (AutoFac and Fac Ob) Module 1 
• Reinsurance Types and Coverages – Module 5 
• Retention Limits – Module 6 

REINSURANCE FUNDAMENTALS

The Education Committee, in partnership with LOMA, has developed an on-line training program for new hires of direct insurers, reinsurers, and retrocessionaires who are responsible for reinsurance administration. This collection provides a solid introduction to the fundamentals of life insurance products and reinsurance to enable new hires to gain the knowledge and understanding required to administer reinsurance business.

To register or learn more about this program, please visit LOMAlearn:

http://learning.loma.org/public/ContentDetails.aspx?id=5A684F28872B416386319AB97D666C11

REINSURANCE GLOSSARY REFERENCE DOCUMENT

Glossary from Principles of Reinsurance. Copyright @ 2006 LL Global, Inc. Used with permission from LL Global. All rights reserved. Copying or downloading this information without permission from LL Global is a violation of U.S. federal law and international law. For additional information on LOMA, an operating division of LL Global, and its educational programs, visit LOMA’s website at http://www.loma.org

The document is available at: Glossary of Reinsurance Terms.pdf

• • • Host discussions around Post Level Term administration to gain industry insight and capture Best Practices.
    • Explore, research and write a white paper to document Post Level Term challenges best practices
    • Prepare a Post Level Term presentation to share at a RAPA Fall Meeting and other industry events.

• • • Post Level Term Initiative formed
    • Developed a working list of the top administrative challenges faced in post level term administration (25+)
    • Established four sub-groups to categorize and address challenges:
      • Administration and Processing
      • Communication
      • Finance
      • Emerging Trends

• • • Finalize outlines (late 2016)
    • Utilize completed outlines to draft and complete PowerPoint and White Paper
    • Continue hosting industry discussions to ensure best practices are captured in final documentation

Click on the link to download:

Innovation Initiative

Click on the link to download:

Premium Validation Whitepaper

This document contains virtual audit best practices for pre-execution, execution, and post execution of audits. It delves into a comparison between, onsite, desk and virtual audits as well as between traditional and agile approaches.

Click on the link to download:

Audit Initiative

The regulatory committee’s purpose is to oversee the implementation, monitoring, and ongoing compliance of (Re)insurance companies with new regulatory standards such as IFRS 17, LDTI, and ESG, while leveraging data-driven insights and automation to ensure efficient, accurate, and transparent reporting practices.

2024 RAPA conference presentation: Future Developments in the Insurance Industry

   Future Developments in the Insurance Industry PowerPoint

If you have any questions or are interested in joining the Regulatory Committee, please reach out to the Initiative Chair, Tina Mashhadian.

Mission Statement: Demystify Annuity Administration, educate and promote standards for the reinsurance industry.